CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
BEETHOVEN: “Leonore” Overture No. 3
ELGAR: Cello concerto
NIELSEN: Symphony no. 5
with Sheku Kanneh-Mason
, cello
“Järvi led the the CSO in a blazing performance (Beethoven Leonore Overture No. 3) of the sort that, were it placed at the end of a concert, would pull an audience from its seats in a rapturous ovation. As it was, this feverish Beethoven set the tone for precision interplay between conductor and orchestra.”
Chicago on the aisle, Lawrence B. Johnson, 27 February 2024
“… from the first notes the orchestra sounded refreshed, energized and vital under the precise and inspiring baton of Paavo Järvi … For a piece as familiar as this, Järvi led a notably fresh, taut and crackling account that had a bristling immediacy and sense of theatrical greasepaint … Paavo Järvi is especially inspired in music of Northern and Eastern Europe and he directed a masterful, acutely concentrated account of Nielsen’s challenging score (Symphony No. 5) … The musicians clearly enjoyed playing this music under Järvi and there were smiles aplenty from the string first desks in the whirling craziness of the final section.”
Chicago Classical Review, Lawrence A. Johnson, 16 February 2024